Brooks Koepka talked a lot of trash heading into Sunday at the PGA Championship, and then played the second-worst round on the course
- Brooks Koepka got whipped on Sunday at the PGA Championship.
- Koepka had talked some pretty big trash heading into the final round, calling out then-leader Dustin Johnson for only have one major to his name.
- Rather than contending for the title as he said he would, Koepka instead played the second-worst round of golf on Sunday, shooting a four-over 74.
- Koepka finished the tournament tied for 29th.
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Brooks Koepka talked some pretty big trash heading into the final round of the PGA Championship, and on Sunday, he completely failed to live up to his hype.
After three rounds had been played at TPC Harding Park, the leaderboard was stacked. Dustin Johnson led the field by one stroke at nine-under, with young up-and-comers Scottie Scheffler and Cameron Champ just behind them.
One stroke further down on the leaderboard sat the trio of Koepka, Paul Casey, and Collin Morikawa.
The stage was set for an explosive final round, but before hitting the locker room, Koepka decided to light fireworks of his own.
"I like my chances," Koepka said of his chase to catch Johnson in the final round. "When I've been in this position before, I've capitalized. I don't know. He's only won one. I'm playing good. I don't know, we'll see."
"A lot of the guys on the leaderboard, I don't think, have one," Koepka said. "I guess DJ has only won one, but I don't know the other guys that are up there."
What can Brooks Koepka bring into the Final Round?
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The experience of winning major championships. pic.twitter.com/alsJdMGd94
The comments were rather shocking given the usual politesse of the sport.
"If he's trying to play mind games, he's trying to do it to the wrong person," said Rory McIlroy, per ESPN. "I don't think D.J. really gives much of a concern [to] that. But just different. I try to respect everyone out here. Everyone is a great player. If you've won a major championship, you're a hell of a player. Doesn't mean you've only won one: You've won one, and you've had to do a lot of good things to do that.
"I mean, sort of hard to knock a guy who's got 21 wins on the PGA Tour, which is three times what Brooks has.''
Still, it was the type of brash confidence that Koepka has become known for at majors and rightfully so. He was the two-time defending PGA Championship winner and was well-positioned to make a run at his third straight Wanamaker trophy.
But this time, Koepka's cockiness came back to bit him. Bad.
On Sunday, Koepka couldn't find any game at all, with four bogeys and no birdies through the front nine to all but play himself out of contention before the competition really heated up through the final holes of the course.
Adding insult to Koepka's injury, his prediction had proved somewhat correct. Collin Morikawa, who had been tied with Koepka heading into Sunday, went on to win the tournament. A win was out there for a player in Koepka's position at the start of Sunday — all he had to do was score.
Instead, Koepka finished the day with a four-over 74 — tying for the second-worst score on Sunday.
Koepka isn't going anywhere, and in just a few weeks will have the chance to make good on his promise of dominance at the U.S. Open at Winged Foot.
But regardless of what happens at the next major, for one round on Sunday, Koepka was undeniably humbled.
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